


An Emperor and His Fortune

by Reecie



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Anthology, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-15
Updated: 2016-03-15
Packaged: 2018-05-26 20:39:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6255034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reecie/pseuds/Reecie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of short stories centering around Kanji and Naoto's relationship. They may not be in chronological order and they follow the cannon of my S. Link stories (unless otherwise noted).<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Umbrella

**Author's Note:**

> The following codes may be next to a chapter's name to indicate a certain time or location: NC - Not cannon to my S. Link stories, Q - Persona Q, D - Dancing All Night

Naoto looked up at the sky and sighed. Large raindrops fell heavily on the concrete outside of the school. She was sure she had watched the weather report before she left; they hadn't said anything about rain. And now she found herself about to walk home without an umbrella. Naoto tugged her hat snug on her head, took a deep breath, and soldiered on into the weather. But as she took her first few steps out onto the wet concrete, she noticed rather quickly that no rain was hitting her. When she looked up to investigate the phenomenon, she saw a bright pink umbrella above her head. The handle of that umbrella was being held from just inside the doorway by a tall, blonde young man whom she knew well.

"Hey," Kanji said. "Forget your umbrella?" Naoto blushed at her mistake and nodded. He smiled, taking a few steps so that they both stood below the umbrella. "Come on, I'll walk you home." The two started heading towards Naoto's house. Even though there was enough of a height difference between them for the walk to be comfortable, they were forced to stand quite close to each other. It had only been a few days since they had become a couple and Naoto wasn't quite use to it yet. Social interactions were never her strong suit, so being in a relationship was a new experience. She could feel the warmth of Kanji's body next to her and it made her heart beat faster. He took off his school jacket and placed it over her shoulders. It smelled like him and there was something comforting about it being so oversized on her. Naoto smiled to herself and reveled in these new feelings.

"You OK?" Kanji asked after a little while. "You're being awfully quiet."

"Oh! I'm sorry..." Naoto apologized. "I'm just...enjoying it."

"Enjoying what?"

"The feeling...of just walking with you. Being...b-being near you." Naoto looked down, embarrassed about admitting it. Kanji blushed as well.

"U-um, w-well t-thank you! I think it's nice being with you, too..." The walk fell into awkward silence. This disappointed Naoto; she didn't mean to ruin the mood. She tried her best to think of something to talk about.

"So...would you...like to hang out at my house for a bit?" she asked. "That is, if you don't have other plans..."

"N-no! I was just gonna go home and study. I guess we could do that together. Studying with you sure would benefit me!" Naoto laughed at him.

"Ok, that sounds like a plan!" Naoto was happy that she was able to move the conversation along. They were about to pass the hill that looked over town. It was still drizzling, but the sun managed to find a few cracks in the clouds to shine through and a rainbow was spanning the valley. "Wow! Look at that!" They stopped to enjoy the view.

"Wow..." Kanji said, smiling. Naoto absentmindedly put her hand up to the handle of the umbrella, but put her hand around Kanji's instead. Startled, she turned from the rainbow to look at him, but didn't pull her hand away. Kanji was looking back at her, his face flushed and cheeks red. Before she knew what was happening, Kanji leaned towards her and Naoto instinctively rose up on her toes to met him. As their lips touched, a shock ran down her back. She suddenly realized that this was something she never knew she had always wanted. Kanji's lips were soft and warm against the chilly air, yet his nose was cold against her cheek. The contrast was striking. He moved his lips slowly and she copied his movements until they found a rhythm. It seemed the Kanji phenomenon applied to kissing as much as it did to his hobbies; for being such a rough looking guy, his kiss was surprisingly gentle, almost delicate. After what felt like both a lifetime and less than a moment, they pulled away and looked at each other, dazed. Naoto gave him a soft smile, trying to remind herself to breathe. Kanji smiled back, leaning forward again and resting his forehead on hers.

"So..." he said

"So...?"

"Was that..."

"It was...nice."

"Just nice?" Kanji sounded a little disappointed. Naoto giggled.

"No, more than nice. We may have to do that again...in the future."

"Y-yeah. I think so, too." Kanji stood back up and looked back a the rainbow that had caused them to stop in the first place. He placed his arm over Naoto's shoulder and squeezed her tightly. In that moment, she felt safe, happy. She didn't want it to end, but knew it had to.

"Come on, let's get to my house, before we catch colds." Kanji agreed and they continued on to Naoto's.


	2. The Change

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The following codes may be next to a chapter's name to indicate a certain time or location: NC - Not cannon to my S. Link stories, Q - Persona Q, D - Dancing All Night

Kanji stared at his reflection in his bathroom mirror, pouting. He cared more about his looks than most probably realized and he was about to make a big decision. It had been quite a few months since the murders were solved; Kanji felt that was more than enough time for him to figure himself out. He had broken down a lot of walls but there was one last barrier he was hiding behind and that was his appearance.

Kanji couldn't remember when the first time he dyed his hair was, though he was pretty sure it was sometime shortly after his father died. And ever since then he had only caught fleeting glances at his natural color in his growing roots before he dyed them again. Kanji pulled back some of his hair to expose his scalp and there it was, black as night; a complete opposite to the platinum blonde that he normally kept his hair at. That was the point, of course, but not anymore. Normally he would have re-dyed it around now; it wasn't grown out enough to show yet, but it would be soon. Kanji sighed as he brushed his hair back down. He knew growing it out would make him look funny for a while and that he'd have to endure all of the jabs from Yosuke-senpai and his other friends, but this was all for the sake of change. And this wasn't even the only big change he was going make.

Earlier that morning, Kanji spent about an hour digging around his room looking for a small hinged case. He eventually found it and it sat open on the counter in front of him. Inside sat a pair of black, oval-rimmed glasses. Kanji made a face at them as he gingerly picked them up. His mom had dragged him to the eye doctor just before he started high school to get these and he hadn't worn them once. Being only mildly nearsighted, not wearing his glasses didn't affect his crafting, only his ability to see things at a distance like the school's chalkboard, which he didn't care much about until now.

Kanji opened the arms and set the glasses on his nose. He blinked a few times as his eyes adjusted to the shock of being able to see clearly for the first time in years. As he stared at his new reflection, he couldn't help but smile a little. This feeling of sudden clarity reminded him of the first time he put on his other glasses in the TV world. He had become rather fond of that pair and absently wondered if Ted could make him a prescription pair, just in case. After a few moments, Kanji turned back to his hair. He figured that if he was going to go back to his natural color, he should probably go with a new style for it too. He grabbed a comb and started messing with it, settling on a part over his left eye. It would take some getting use to, he knew, so he ignored the awkward feeling it gave him and continued to get ready.

* * *

Kanji walked down the shopping district, trying to dismiss the nervous feeling he had welling up in his stomach. There were barely any people out in the district today, yet he felt like he had a million eyes on him. In spite of this, he kept his head held high. If Kanji was going to show the world who he truly was, he was going to stand up to it like a man! He stopped on the corner, near the bus stop. He had made plans to meet Naoto here so that they could spend the day together. It was because of this that Kanji decided that today would be the day he would change his appearance. He wondered what Naoto would think; he was more nervous about that than anyone else's opinion. So he stood there waiting on the bus stop, wishing she would show up faster.

"K-Kanji?" a familiar voice called him from behind.

"Naoto! H-hey!" Kanji said happily, spinning around. "S-so, wha-" He stopped mid sentence as he got a good look at his girlfriend. She was wearing a simple light blue blouse, but there was something very different about it compared to her normal attire. Naoto's clothes normally ranged from unisex to masculine; she had expressed in the past that she was simply more comfortable wearing them. But today she wore a top that was clearly feminine. It was cut to fit a female body, so that it was tight in the right places to show of her curves without being too revealing. She had even removed her signature hat, leaving her deep, blue-gray eyes nothing to hide behind. Kanji was rendered utterly speechless. He thought she was perfect in anything (he did first feel an attraction to her when he thought she was a boy, after all), but he wasn't going to lie and say that he didn't think she was extra cute wearing girl's clothes.

"S-stop staring..." Naoto told him, blushing.

"Oh! Sorry." Kanji said. "It's just...you look...wow."

"R-really?" Naoto asked. "I-I went shopping with Rise. I told her that I wanted to find something nice. She of course took that to mean feminine..."

"Ya, she probably had a field day with that one."

"But, it's OK." Naoto said happily. "I decided a while ago that I could be a girl and still accomplish anything I put my mind to. So I can wear what I want, whenever I want, even something girly."

"That's great." Kanji said, smiling. "I'm happy as long as you're happy." Naoto beamed back at him.

"What about you?' she asked. Kanji gave her a confused look, so she pointed at her eyes. He brought his own hand up to his face and touched his glasses. In the shock of seeing Naoto, he had completely forgotten he was wearing his glasses.

"Oh!" he said, surprised. Naoto chuckled. "I-I wear glasses, so..."

"I can see that."

"I'm suppose to wear them all the time, but I stopped because I didn't think they made me look tough or whatever. Same thing with my hair and my piercings..." He pointed to his bare nose where his stud would have been if he had put it in that morning. "But I don't want to 'look' tough anymore. I know how tough I am and I don't need anything else to prove that to people except for me. So, I'm going back to me, the real me."

"Wow. That's a big step." Naoto said. "But, are you sure that you're not just going to the other extreme now?"

"What do ya mean?"

"Well, you went from changing everything about yourself to the complete opposite and now you're going completely back. You must have made some choices based on what you like, right? Are you sure you want to change everything?" Kanji thought about her question for a moment.

"Well, I might put my piercings back in." he finally said. "My face feels kinda naked without them...But, if I'm being truthful with myself, this is what I want to do. Besides, I need my glasses to do better at school and as for my hair, well, I'll save a ton of money on dye!' Naoto laughed at him.

"It's as you said, 'I'm happy as long as you're happy'." she told him, smiling. The two started walking down the shopping district towards Aiya for lunch. "So, what is you're natural hair color?"

"Black."

"So you really did go as opposite as you could, didn't you? But, wait a minute...If you're going let it grow out, doesn't that mean..."

"Yep, gonna look all stripy for a little while."

"Yosuke-senpai isn't going to let this one go by quietly. Teddie probably wont either..."

"I know. But that's where you come in."

"Me?"

"Yeah: My girlfriend has a gun and I'm not afraid to use her!"


	3. The Argument (Q)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The following codes may be next to a chapter's name to indicate a certain time or location: NC - Not cannon to my S. Link stories, Q - Persona Q, D - Dancing All Night

"H-hey! You gonna be OK?" Kanji asked Naoto earnestly as the group finished up the pack of shadows that had jumped them. They currently found themselves in a labyrinth made to look like a rundown old school and the room they had walked into seemed to be a dead end.

"Worry about yourself first," Naoto replied coldly. Her words stung, more than they probably should have, and before he knew it he was snapping back at her.

"What the hell do you mean by that!?"

"Just what I said. You should take care to watch your own limits."

"Oh and how dare I worry about anyone else?"

"What!? That's not what I said at all!"

"No, but it's how you said it!"

"How I said...What are you talking about!?" A little ways away from them stood the rest of the group, all recovering from the last battle and getting their bearings. The first to notice the two arguing was Junpei.

"Hey, um, Yosuke?" he said, pointing. "Do those two fight often?"

"Huh?" Yosuke replied, looking over. "...No. Actually, not at all."

"Yeah, it's usually Yosuke and Chie arguing like an old married couple!" Teddie chimed in.

"Shut it bear!"

"He's right, though," Yukiko said. "Kanji and Naoto always get along really well. I wonder what happened?"

"I'll go find out." Yu said, walking over towards them. "Hey, what's going on you –" Yu stopped mid-sentence as the sound of a rattle came seemingly out of nowhere.

"Oh shit! That's a..." Kanji said nervously.

"It's an FOE!" Fuuka's voice rang out. "Be careful everybody!" Suddenly the entire room began to shake. Bits of debris stared to fall from the ceiling.

"Watch out!" Rise's voice called. "The roof is about to cave in! Get out of the way!" Yu jumped backwards just as the ceiling fell with a loud crash. The group began to cough as they were enveloped by a cloud of dust.

"Kanji! Naoto!" Yu shouted once he had recovered. He ran up to the large pile of rubble that now stood before them, dividing the room. "Are you alright?"

On the other side of the pile, the dust was just starting to clear. Naoto was the first to recover; she was lucky enough to have gotten her face covered just before the cave in. She could hear Kanji coughing somewhere near her and the remaining dust stung her eyes as she searched for him. She was relieved to find him a little shaken up, but free of the debris.

"Naoto! Are you –" Kanji tried to get out a few words before his coughing fit began again.

"I'm fine, but give yourself a few minutes before you try to talk again." Naoto instructed, giving him her hand to help him up. She then turned her attention to the wall. "It seems we are trapped for the moment. There doesn't seem to be an exit on this side. Senpai! Can you hear me?" Naoto started to call for their friends as loud as she could.

"Naoto!? Oh thank goodness!" Yukiko responded from the other side.

"We're all OK over here!" Yu said. "How about you two?"

"Rattled, but fine." Naoto replied.

"And trapped." Kanji added, his coughing finally subsiding. "We need to start clearing out this mess."

"Right! Start digging, everyone!" Yu said. Naoto turned towards Kanji.

"Feeling better?" she asked and he nodded. "Good. Let's start, then. Your persona should come in handy here."

"OK! Come, Take –" Kanji was cut off mid-summon by a sickening sounding splat that sent a shiver down his spine. The two turned around slowly to see a large, disgusting FOE staring back at them. It was a giant baby with a large, bloody sack over its head. They had encountered this FOE before, so they knew it would only be a matter of time before it started to chase them down. And they had nowhere to run.

"Damn it! This is just what we need!" Kanji cursed.

"What!? What is it?" Yu called over.

"That FOE we heard earlier has arrived." Naoto replied. "It must be what caused the cave in."

"Oh no! What do we do now?" Yukari said.

"Nothin' you can do but keep digging!" Kanji said. "We'll have to hold it off until you guys can get through."

"Alright!" Akihiko said. "Keep digging!" The two could hear faint sounds of movement from the other side of the pile as they turned their attention back to the FOE.

"H-how are you doing?" Kanji asked Naoto cautiously.

"I am doing well, considering." she replied. "I believe Yu-senpai equipped me with a persona that has healing powers, if we do need assistance."

"OK. Hey! Rise! Can you hear us?"

"Yeah, Kanji, I've got you guys!" Rise's voice responded. "This one's tough but I do have some good news: it's weak to electricity."

"Perfect." Kanji said, smiling. He was never one to back down from a challenge. The only thing he was worried about was keeping Naoto safe. He took a couple steps forward, placing himself between Naoto and the FOE. "Naoto, just keep up the healing and I think we'll make it through this. Ready?"

"Ready." Naoto replied.

"Take-Mikazuchi!" Kanji called and his large, monochromatic persona appeared, shaking the ground. He heard Naoto call out an unfamiliar persona's name, who appeared next to her. "Let's do this!" Kanji's persona bounded towards the F.O.E. and threw a strong punch, electricity crackling behind it as his arm passed through the air. It hit the baby right on the head, which caused it to let out a high pitched cry. Kanji instinctively went to cover his ears, but something stopped him mid-motion and he couldn't move. Take-Mikazuchi found himself in a similar situation, caught in the middle of his punch's follow through. This left his back completely exposed, which the F.O.E. promptly body slammed. Kanji groaned as he took the blow, but the pain only lasted a few seconds as he felt something warm wash over him. Not only could he move again, but Kanji almost felt like he hadn't been hit at all. He shot a quick glance at Naoto. She was concentrating hard on his persona, ready to heal the next hit. But Kanji knew she couldn't keep this up for long; she wasn't use to healing, so this was a major drain on her energy. She was already starting to look winded.

"Be careful with that." he told her. "I can take a few hits before I'll need healing. Save your energy a bit."

"I suppose you're right." Naoto replied, breathing heavily. "I'll be more conservative, then." The F.O.E. charged and a shot of energy hit Take-Mikazuchi before heading right for Naoto. Sukuna-Hikona appeared and took the shot. Kanji weathered the hit without much trouble, he trusted that Naoto could handle it as well, and he readied his next move.

"Break him, Take-Mikazuchi!" he shouted. His persona obeyed his command, throwing down his large lightening bolt at the floor near the baby. A bolt of electricity struck the lightening bolt and zapped the F.O.E. causing it to fall over. They took this opportunity to get in as many attacks as they could before it got back up. Even Sukuna-Hikona was able to hit him with a few basic attacks. Once the F.O.E. recovered, it body slammed Take-Mikazuchi again.

"Urg!" Kanji groaned as he was hit harder than he expected. It knocked him back and he doubled over. "Shitshitshitshitshit..."

"I've got you, Kanji!" Naoto said, healing him. Kanji stood back up as Naoto put a hand on her knee, bracing herself.

"Naoto!"

"I'm...alright..." she replied slowly. She stood back up, her body shaking with each heavy breath. "I'm not physically hurt, I'm just tired. I think I can do that one more time, but then that's it. Our friends will be here soon; we just need to hold out for a little bit longer." Kanji nodded. The sound of them digging was definitely louder than it was before. He turned back towards the baby.

"You're going down, you bastard!" Take-Mikazuchi threw another electric punch, but the baby dodged it. It body slammed him hard, bringing Kanji down to his knees.

"Kanji!"

"Don't heal me!" Kanji commanded. He stood back up, slowly.

"But, Kanji –"

"I'm fine, you need to save your energy." he told her.

"OK, I'll trust you." Naoto said. The baby let out another a high pitch scream. Kanji covered his ears, but he wasn't frozen like last time. He was about to command his persona to do another attack when he heard Naoto make a strange sound and he turned to face her.

"K-Kanj-ji...I-I can't m-move..." she sputtered, having been effected by the cry.

"Naoto!" Kanji heard the baby move, so he returned his attention to it. It seemed to have lost interest in Take-Mikazuchi and was about to charge Naoto. "NAOTO!" Kanji rushed over towards her as fast as he could. He lunged forward, putting himself between her and the F.O.E. as it was about to attack. Naoto stood frozen as she watched Kanji take the attack. He let out a loud, painful moan before hitting the ground, lifeless. Moments later Naoto was released from the monster's spell, but it still took her a few moments to make her body move. When she was finally able to do so, she ran over and knelt beside him, placing Kanji's head on her knees.

"Kanji! Kanji, are you alright!?" He didn't answer, but Naoto was relieved to find that he was still breathing, though it was labored. A somewhat large cut across his forehead was the only injury Naoto could see without further examination.

"Naoto!" Rise's voice called out to her. "Kanji's unconscious, but OK. He needs healing."

"I know, but then I won't be able to defend myself." Naoto replied. She looked up at the F.O.E. It seemed to be recovering from its last attack, but she knew it would attack again at any moment. She could still hear friends digging and she needed to think of something quickly so that she could hold it off until they made it through. She looked back down at Kanji. "Hang in there, Kanji." Naoto set him down gently and stood. "Rise, does this F.O.E. have any other weaknesses besides electricity?"

"Let me look..." Rise responded. "No, it's immune to just about everything...Oh wait! It's not immune to light, but it is highly resistant. It's a long shot; based on your energy level you'll only have one chance."

"One chance is all I need. Sukuna-Hikona! Hamaon!" Her nimble blue persona zipped through the air and the entire area erupted in a bright flash of light.

* * *

Kanji opened his eyes slowly, unsure of where he was. The last thing he remembered was being trapped in the labyrinth and now he seemed to be on a bed in a brightly lit room. His head hurt and his vision was fuzzy. He could see something standing over him, but all he could make out was a blue blob.

"N-Naoto...?" he said weakly. He suddenly realized that he didn't know if Naoto was OK and shot straight up. "Naoto!"

"It's OK Kanji! It's OK; I'm OK. Please, lie back down." Kanji blinked a couple of times and his vision cleared. The blob he saw was actually Naoto, who was sitting in a chair next to his bed. He looked around the room; they were in the nurse's office and there didn't seem to be anyone else there.

"How are you feeling?" Naoto asked. She sounded worried for him and the idea made Kanji's face feel warm.

"I'm OK. How 'bout you?"

"I'm just fine...thanks to you..." Kanji blushed.

"What happened?"

"After you were hit, I decided to take a chance." Naoto explained. "Rise told me about it's weaknesses to light and I...I got lucky. The group got through the rubble moments later and we all brought you here. It's hard to say how long you were out, since time doesn't work correctly here, but if I had to guess I'd say it was a couple of hours." The two sat in silence for a while. Kanji wondered if Naoto had sat by his bedside for the entire time.

"Naoto?"

"Yes Kanji?"

"I'm...I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For snapping at you. Back before the cave in."

"Oh." Naoto looked down at her knees. "I feel like must apologize to you as well. I might have unintentionally had a mean tone when I responded to your concern."

"It's OK, really." Kanji reassured her. "We're under a lot of stress. Anyone would crack under this kind of pressure."

"No, it's not just that." Naoto told him. "Anytime anyone shows concern for me, it's usually because they think I can't do something. I'm not use to people actually being worried about me for me."

"Well, you better get use to it!" Kanji said passionately. "You've got a lot of friends now and a lot of people who care about you. So you can't go getting mad every time we check up on you."

"He's right, you know." a familiar voice said from the office door. Kanji and Naoto looked over to see all of their friends standing just inside of the room. They all walked in and stood around the bed.

"So, is that what you two were arguing about back there?" Yosuke asked.

"Yeah.." Kanji replied. "Sorry about that. I know it was stupid..."

"No, it's OK. You're right, we're all pretty tired." Yu said with a smile.

"Do you think you'll be ready to head out soon?" Chie asked.

"Ya, I think so. I'm already feeling a lot better."

"That's great!" Yukiko said cheerfully.

"Whenever you're ready, come out to the food area. You can get something to eat and we'll head back out." Yu said. The group left, leaving Kanji and Naoto alone again. Kanji swung his legs around to the side of the bed and Naoto gave him a concerned look.

"Are you sure you're ready to get up?" she asked. "You took quite a hit back there."

"Ya, I'm fine." he replied, giving her a grin. "It's gonna take a lot more than that to keep me down."

"Stubborn as always." Naoto said, smiling. "Come on, then. Let's go eat." The two started to head out towards the food area. "Thank you, Kanji."

"Huh?"

"Thanks...for caring about me..." Kanji felt his stomach leap up into his throat.

"N-no p-problem!" he stammered. "W-we all care about each other; any of our friends would have done the same, just like you would for them." Naoto had a felling that there was more to what he did than just that, but she didn't push it any farther. Their conversation turned into idle chitchat as they went to meet up with their friends.


	4. The Dance (NC, D)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The following codes may be next to a chapter's name to indicate a certain time or location: NC - Not cannon to my S. Link stories, Q - Persona Q, D - Dancing All Night

Naoto followed the others to the side as Kanji took the stage. She never thought that he would be the first to volunteer to dance; she was almost certain that was going to be Teddie. But then she remembered that he had expressed an interest in dancing from the start. However, even with all of the contradictory things she already knew about Kanji, Naoto would have never pegged him as a dancer. In her mind, dancing was elegant and graceful, whereas Kanji was...not. And that wasn't a bad thing, Naoto just wasn't sure how his brawler nature would lend to the art of dance. On the other hand, she has seen Kanji work with a very gentle hand on his various crafts, so it was possible that dancing fell into that category. This new thought made her quite curious as she watched him prepare himself for the performance.

As soon as Rise started the music, Naoto knew that they were about to watch something enjoyable. The song Rise had chosen for him had a rock vibe to it, which suited Kanji perfectly. He started dancing and the opening was filled with punches and fist pumps. As it continued, he added stomps, kicks, and flexes to his routine. Naoto was sure that this dance wasn't the dance Rise had taught him at all, but his heavy movements seemed to match the drums and guitar cords almost perfectly. If Kanji was anything, he was passionate; she was certain that his feelings would be received by the shadows.

When the song hit the first chorus, Naoto found herself being drawn in by Kanji's dance. There was something about his energy that filled her with excitement. She found herself moving her body to the beat with him. Kanji's innate passion has always been extremely infectious, but it has never been amplified to this degree before. And, as the song came up to the final chorus, Naoto couldn't control her excitement anymore. Her feet were suddenly moving on their own as she rushed out to join Kanji on the dance floor.

"May I have this dance?" Naoto said as she cut in. Kanji looked somewhat surprised at first, but then he gave her a wide smile. They danced together fluidly, as if they had choreographed the whole thing. The truth was that she hadn't seen Kanji since Rise had gotten them all together to propose her dancing plan weeks ago. The connection she had with him, the bond they shared, that was enough in this moment to blend their dances together seamlessly.

Their dance was nearing it's end and Naoto found herself feeling almost sad. She truly missed spending time with all of her friends like this. She could have done without the dangerous situation, of course, but it been too long since the last time. Naoto missed her senpais, she missed Rise, and she missed Kanji. Kanji...his strength, his hard-headedness, his bluntness. These were all things she hadn't realized she would miss until they were gone. Naoto couldn't help but smile as they finished their dance back to back.

"Heh. You outta breath?" Kanji asked as Naoto left him to finish the dance solo. "Dance with me again, OK?" Naoto nearly stopped dead in her tracks as butterflies exploded in the pit of her stomach. When did Kanji become so...cool? He wasn't always like that, was he? Had it really been so long? Naoto's head was swimming with emotions as she took her place at the side of the stage. Rise, who's eyes never left the dance from the moment Naoto had decided to join him, leaned over to whisper in Naoto's ear.

"You're blushing, Naoto." Rise giggled, clearly enjoying every second of this. At least Rise hadn't changed. This thought dulled any embarrassment that arose from Rise's comment. As she watched Kanji finish his dance and call his persona in an epic finale, Naoto came up with an answer she knew she didn't have the courage to give him.

"Yes, Kanji. I would love to dance with you again."


	5. The Next Dance (NC, D)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The following codes may be next to a chapter's name to indicate a certain time or location: NC - Not cannon to my S. Link stories, Q - Persona Q, D - Dancing All Night

Kanji stood quietly off to the side, arms crossed and scowling as Naoto took her position on the Midnight Stage. Watching her prepare for her second dance reminded him how he had chickened out of joining her on stage for her first. Just as he was working up the courage to jump out there, Ted snuck in front of him and stole his thunder. But, while it would be easy to blame this all on the bear, Kanji knew that it was mostly his own insecurity that cost him the dance. This revaluation caused him to loosen up his stance and even smile a little as he watched Naoto stretch out.

'This time will be different,' he thought to himself as Rise started the music and Naoto began to dance.

This song was softer than her previous one; a slower, jazzy tune with a somewhat heavy beat. And, from the first few moments, Kanji was completely entranced. Naoto began with movements more akin to interpretive dance before easing in to more traditional steps, but even then there was a fluid narrative to every move she made. After a short while, the song sped up a little and Naoto just went with the flow. Each move, while different when looked at separately, fit together like strands on a loom as she expertly weaved them into a beautiful cloth.

Kanji's face burned as his heart beat hard in his chest. He had never seen her like this before. Naoto was...sexy. There were a lot of reasons he had feelings for her: she was cool, collected, brilliant, strong, and even cute. But Kanji had never thought of her as sexy before; he rarely used that adjective in the first place. He had been exposed to Yosuke-senpai long enough to know what it meant, however, and that was exactly the right word to use to describe Naoto right now. And Kanji barely knew how to handle that.

The music sped up another time and again Naoto adjusted her dance to match. Kanji began to think that maybe he shouldn't join her. She was looking like an absolute pro out there and he was sure he would just ruin things. His place was on the sidelines, cheering her on and being as mesmerized as the shadows she was dancing for. Just as he resigned to that thought, Naoto paused for just a second and did a beckoning motion with her finger before continuing on. It was just one moment in a long list of perfect moments that made up her dance, but it stood out to Kanji, shining bright in his mind. Who was Naoto motioning to? Was she looking right at him or was it a trick of the stage? Kanji was convinced she was gesturing to him, who else could it have been? This renewed his desire to join her out there, yet try as he might his feet refused to move. It was nearing the end of the dance now; he was going to miss his chance again.

"Oh, come on Moronji!" Rise's voice called out from behind him. Kanji could feel her come in close to his ear to whisper.

"She's waiting for you."

Suddenly, Rise gave him a strong shove and Kanji found himself on stage with Naoto. Again she took his abrupt appearance completely in stride and turned her solo into a duet seamlessly. Kanji did his best to keep up, but he knew he was way out of his league here. While Naoto was fluid, Kanji was rigid and clunky. He was worried that his lack of skill would hinder her beautiful dance, but this didn't even phase her. Naoto continued on almost as if she was enjoying his company, in spite of his awkward steps. She smiled at him whenever their faces met and he smiled back, deciding to stop thinking so much. It was over almost as suddenly as it began and Kanji took his spot back on the sidelines so Naoto could finish. He made sure to throw a glare at Rise as he walked by.

"Don't be like that," she said, sticking out her tongue. "You loved it." She was right, of course, but there was no way Kanji would ever let her have the satisfaction of knowing that. Instead, he stood there quietly as the shadows melted into light around them, reliving the dance in his head over and over again.


	6. The Last Dance (NC, D)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The following codes may be next to a chapter's name to indicate a certain time or location: NC - Not cannon to my S. Link stories, Q - Persona Q, D - Dancing All Night

Kanji was nervous, more nervous than he'd been in a long time. And it wasn't the stage that Rise's persona had suddenly turned into, it wasn't the massive shadow that stood before him, and it wasn't even the fact that the world's fate rested in the hands of him and his friends once again. That final thought almost made him laugh at how commonplace it had become. No, there was only one thing in this moment that would make Kanji as anxious as he was right now and that was Naoto volunteering to dance with him in the big final dance.

As the group came together a few minutes ago to quickly decide how they were going to handle this last dance, Kanji stood quietly off to the side. He knew who he wanted to be paired with, but he also knew that she deserved a much better partner than him. Naoto was a better dancer than she probably realized and Kanji knew that she could really shine with a dance partner like Yu-senpai or Rise. So he quietly waited for everyone else to choose and to find out who would be stuck with him.

"OK, partner. How should we do this?" Yosuke-senpai asked.

"Well, Rise is supplying the music, I think she would be the best person to tell us what to do." Yu-senpai replied, looking at Rise.

"Other than us needing to do this in pairs, it doesn't really matter." Rise answered. "There will be one person who has to dance alone and I think Senpai should, as the grand finale." Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Oooo! I want to dance with Rise-senpai!" Kanami exclaimed suddenly, raising her hand and bouncing energeticly.

"Hmm, that's not a bad thought..." Naoto said, pensive.

"What do you mean, Naoto?" Yukiko-senpai asked.

"These shadows respond to emotion, correct?" Naoto explained. "I think that we should pair up based on our gut feelings. We are all good friends, but I am sure we all have someone we really want to dance with, deep down. Like how Kanami wants to dance with Rise."

"I think I understand what you mean." Chie-senpai said. "I was really hoping it worked out that I got to dance with Yukiko..."

"Aw, Chie, I want to dance with you, too!' Yukiko-senpai said cheerfully.

"That leaves just one lovely lady to dance with this lovely bear." Teddie said in his best manly voice, looking directly at Naoto.

"No, I believe I'll dance with Kanji." she told him.

"Kanji!?" everyone said simultaneously.

"H-huh!?" Kanji said, shocked. "M-me? R-really?" Naoto looked around at the group as they stared at her, waiting for an explanation. She blushed and pulled her hat down low over her eyes.

"W-well, you see, when I danced with him earlier, he asked me if I-I would dance with him again." Naoto told them. "I-I'd like to accept his invitation, that's all." Kanji was speechless. When he had asked her for another dance, it was in the heat of emotion that came from dancing in this crazy place. He couldn't believe he had even said it at the time and he was even more surprised that she was actually taking him up on the offer.

"Way to go Kanji!" Yosuke-senpai said, patting him on the back. "Looks like your special brand of awkwardness finally got to her!"

"H-hey, shaddup!" Kanji growled and the group chuckled.

"Well, with that decision, that just leaves Yosuke-senpai and Teddie." Rise said, bringing the group back on track.

"Aww, I really wanted to be with one of the girls!" Teddie whined.

"Come on, Teddie. Dancing with me isn't so bad, is it?" Yosuke-senpai asked.

"Wait, you wanted to dance with Teddie?" Chie-senpai questioned him.

"Well, I do agree with him, I'd rather be dancing with one of you girls," he replied thoughtfully. "But since I knew you two would want to dance together, Rise would never want to dance with me, and I actually thought Kanji would snatch up Naoto, not the other way around, I started to think that maybe dancing with Teddie wouldn't be so bad. Team Junes, right?"

"Alllllright!" Teddie said, completely changing his tone. "The men of Junes are going to take the stage and steal all of the ladies' hearts!"

"OK, OK, calm down a bit." Yosuke-senpai told him. "Save that energy for the dance."

"Great!" Rise said, clapping her hands together. "Let me explain a little about how you will know when it's your turn..." Rise went over what part of the song we each had and in what order. Kanji and Naoto were of course first, giving him no time to prepare himself. They broke off into their pairs and the rest walked to the edge of the stage, leaving Kanji and Naoto alone to start off.

"Are you sure you want to dance with me?" Kanji asked her quietly.

"Well, it's a bit late now..." Naoto replied mischievously. "Yes, I'm sure. Dancing with you was fun. I'm happy I get a chance to do it again." She gave him a sweet smile and suddenly all of his worries faded away. There was no way that he could screw this up; all he had to do was dance with all of his heart and Kanji knew that being passionate was something he was actually good at. It would be even easier now that Naoto was by his side. Rise started the music and the pair walked towards center stage.

"Here goes, damn it!" Kanji said, stretching out a bit. "I'm gonna slam everything into this last dance!" Their dance began quickly. The song Rise had chosen had a ton of energy, which Kanji used as ammunition for his dance. They started off dancing in their own styles: Kanji throwing out quick, heavy moves while Naoto performed her elegant, flowing steps as beautifully as she always did. But something happened rather quickly and suddenly they were completely in-sync, not only in timing but in moves as well. Each motion still had their own personal flare, but there was no doubt that they matched. Kanji wasn't sure how it happened; was he copying her or was she copying him? All he knew was that the moves just came to him, like his body was acting on it's own. It was as if their styles had fused into it's own kind of dance, made up of parts of both of them. Kanji knew he had taken some fluid steps from Naoto and he could've sworn he saw her throw her arms up into a flex once or twice.

"I leave the rest to you, Senpai!" Naoto said as their part came to an end much too quickly. They walked off stage together, Yukiko-senpai and Chie-senpai taking their place. They were both breathing heavily from the dance and they wore matching smiles that stretched from ear to ear.

"We got this," Kanji said. "That thing is going down!"

"If the others have half as much fun as I just did, then we will have no trouble at all." Naoto told him. Kanji was grinning so much that his cheeks were starting to hurt, but he didn't care. Here he was, battling monsters bent on world destruction, and all he cared about was that he had gotten to dance with Naoto for a third time and she seemed to have enjoyed it just as much as he had. The two watched as their friends all took their turns dancing and then joined them on the side. Finally, it came to Yu-senpai's dance at a slow bit of the song. After a few moments of him dancing with Rise and Kanami, there was a big swell in the tempo. Without even thinking, the entire group ran out onto stage behind Yu-senpai as he danced, dancing and cheering along. When the song finally ended, Yu-senpai summoned a persona that Kanji knew he had seen at least once before, though he couldn't quite place when. The large shadow cried out and they knew that they had won.

* * *

After the LMB festival finally came to a close, the Investigation Team, Kanamin Kitchen, and the Dojimas were all in the back dressing room. Takura Productions had provided a nice spread of food and drinks for them to enjoy while they mingled. This was the first time that the Kitchen girls had gotten a chance to talk to everyone and they were taking full advantage of it. Tomoe, Chie-senpai, and Yukiko-senpai were all laughing together in one corner, Nanako was bouncing energeticly between Kanami, Yu-senpai and her father, Yosuke-senpai was chatting with Rise and Tamami while trying to keep Teddie in line, Naoto was having a quiet conversation with Sumomo, and Kanji found himself talking with Nozomi. She, like the other idols he had spoken to so far, was very interested in his knitted dolls. Kanji was use to people being surprised when he revealed his hobby and he had come to enjoy the attention he often received from it. But, even though his focus was on whomever he was speaking to at the time, Kanji's eye rarely left Naoto.

Kanji knew that her wanting to dance with him meant something, he just couldn't sort out what. Was it really just because he had asked her for another dance or was there something more? Kanji tried to brush the thought off as wishful thinking, but something she had said kept pulling it back into his mind:

'I think that we should pair up based on our gut feelings...I am sure we all have someone we really want to dance with, deep down.'

Naoto didn't just want to humor him, she really wanted to dance with him. Was his dance powerful enough to affect her as well? Kanji knew Naoto's dance had worked on him; he still couldn't think about her second dance without getting flushed. But that brought up another dilemma: perhaps any feelings they were having for each other were artificial? Something about that stage amplified emotions and they could have fallen under its spell. Even so, Kanji knew he cared for her, he always has. So maybe he was lucky enough to have her care about him, even just for a moment. And he was more than happy with that.

"Nozomi?" Tamami called. "Can you come her a sec?"

"O-OK." Nozomi replied. "Please excuse me." Kanji nodded as she walked away, happy to have a moment alone to his thoughts. The moment didn't last long, however, because Naoto noticed the vacancy and was heading over to him. Kanji's heart leaped up into his throat.

"Hello Kanji." she said once she was in front of him.

"H-hey Naoto." They stood in awkward silence for what seemed like ages. Kanji was suddenly overcome with the need to tell her everything and yet he was too scared to actually do so.

"So," Naoto finally said. "It was kind of odd seeing you with blond hair again. Will you be keeping it that way?"

"Nah, probably not." Kanji told her, tugging at a strand of his hair. "As much as I'm dreading having to go through the 'growing out' phase again, I like my natural color. Why? Do you like it like this?"

"O-oh! No, not necessarily!" Naoto said, somewhat surprised by his question. "I was more curious about your opinion on it. It is your hair, after all." Kanji was sure he saw her blush a little, which made him smile. They were quiet once more, neither sure what to say next.

"I have to be leaving soon." Naoto told him. "I need to look into the other cases that may be related to what we did here today."

"Ya mean that Mass Leopard Ski thing?"

"Mass Lethargy Syndrome, yes." Naoto corrected, chuckling at his mispronunciation. "I want to see if I was correct in thinking that it was tied to the Midnight Stage."

"Oh." Kanji suddenly felt very sad. He knew Naoto worked hard at her job and she took a lot of pride in it. But that also meant she was rarely in Inaba. This whole situation had allowed him to spend a lot of time with her and he didn't want her to leave yet. He only wished he had a reason to get her to stay.

"Kanji-"

"Naoto, I-" They both stopped short as they spoke in unison and laughed. "You first."

"OK." Naoto said, taking a deep breath. "I just wanted to let you know that I am so happy that I got to spend so much time with you and the others and that I truly miss all of you. I know my life keeps me away, but I look forward to coming back home to Inaba and seeing everyone when I can. And there is one thing that this whole experience has made me realize: I miss you. I don't know if it's just this place and what happened to us, but seeing you again, Kanji...I don't know what it means or even what I'm trying to say, but I am happy I got to dance with you and I will miss you when I leave." Kanji's stomach exploded into butterflies and his face went crimson.

"N-Naoto, I-I don't know what to say," he managed to get out, his voice shaky. "I'm happy, too. And I'll miss you, too. I hope your busy life brings you back to Inaba soon."

"You know, you guys are gonna see each other in a few days, at my show, right?" Rise said, popping up from seemingly nowhere. Kanji and Naoto were both startled and embarrassed, and Naoto's face reddened to match Kanji's. Rise smiled knowingly before disappearing as quickly as she came and Kanji wondered if she did these things on purpose.

"OK then, I guess I'll be back in a few days." Naoto said, her embarrassment easing into laughter.

"So I guess I'll see you then." Kanji said. Naoto nodded and began to walk away, but something in Kanji took over and he called back out to her. "Naoto, wait! Um...the next time you're in town...you know, after this next time...do ya think that, um...maybe you can...call me first?" Naoto looked at him, confused. Kanji swallowed, forcing out the last few words he needed to say. "I-I was thinking that we could, you know, hang out for a while? Just us?"

"Oh." Naoto pulled at her hat slightly and Kanji began to worry. Had he gone to far? Maybe he had read her intention wrong. He couldn't believe how stupid he was. He was about to retract his statement when she finally said, "Yes, I think I would like that." She smiled at him and he could have died right then and there. Kanji wanted to cheer and celebrate his bravery, but he held it together long enough to smile back as she walked over to the rest of the group to say goodbye. For the first time since they met, it finally seemed like Naoto had an interest in him. He immediately began planing what they would do together; he even considered asking Yu-senpai for help. Kanji had been waiting a long time for this opportunity and he didn't want to screw it up. But that conversation would have to wait; the group was calling him over for one last goodbye before they finally left this adventure behind them.


End file.
